Campylobacteriosis is a bacterial infection caused by the bacteria Campylobacter jejuni. It affects the intestinal tract and, in rare cases, the bloodstream (sepsis). It is the most commonly reported cause of bacterial diarrhea in the United States.
Our Campylobacter lawyers represent people diagnosed with campylobacteriosis after eating contaminated food. Some of our cases have involved grocery stores and raw milk from farms, but most of our cases involve food eaten at a restaurant. For more information, read “Can I Sue a Restaurant for Food Poisoning?”
We have represented several people with this illness who developed Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS), a severe complication. These clients were severely sickened. Attorney Fred Pritzker and his team are some of the few attorneys in the nation who have successfully won money for clients sickened with campylobacteriosis and GBS. You can contact our law firm about a campylobacteriosis lawsuit using the form below.
Campylobacteriosis Symptoms
If you are infected with Campylobacter, your symptoms may include the following:
- Diarrhea (often bloody)
- Abdominal cramping and pain
- Nausea and vomiting
- Fever
- Traces of blood in the stool
- Tiredness.
Campylobacteriosis usually lasts for 2 to 5 days, but in some cases as long as 10 days.
Most people recover completely. However, a small percentage of people may have joint pain and swelling after infection.
Campylobacteriosis Complications
Below are some of the possible complications:
- Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS), the leading cause of acute paralysis in the United States
- Meningitis, inflammation of the lining of the spinal cord
- Arthritis.
GBS is a rare condition that can develop from 2 to 4 weeks after the initial infection. People with this disease suffer from increasing paralysis of the limbs which lasts for several weeks or more. In more severe cases, they develop breathing problems requiring very long hospital stays.
The long-term consequences of developing should be discussed with one of our attorneys. Any recovery (settlement or jury award) you receive from liable parties should include compensation for future medical expenses and future pain and suffering.
Campylobacteriosis Treatment
If you suspect you have campylobacteriosis, you should see your health care provider and ask to be tested. If you are diagnosed, you should contact your health department to ask them about further testing with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) or whole genome sequencing (WGS). You will need this done if you want to prove that you are part of an outbreak and to be compensated. For a free consultation, call 1-888-377-8900 or submit our online form.
Your health care provider may prescribe an antibiotic such as ciprofloxacin or azithromycin. Erythromycin helps treat diarrhea.
Because of the risk of dehydration, you should drink fluids to prevent dehydration.
Transmission of Illness from Food or Water
This illness is spread when feces containing Campylobacter bacteria gets into food or water.
Many animals, including pigs, cattle, dogs, and birds (particularly poultry) carry the bacteria in their intestines. These sources in turn may contaminate meat products (particularly poultry), water supplies, milk, and other items in the food chain. Infected humans can also spread this illness.
Many of our cases have involved restaurants. What happens is contaminated food served at the restaurant makes several people sick. This is called a foodborne outbreak. Even if the food source of the outbreak is never determined, the people sickened still have good claims and can generally get compensated for medical expenses, pain and suffering, lost income, and other damages. The amount of compensation generally is significantly more if the person develops Guillain-Barre syndrome.
We have also handled cases where our client was sickened by raw milk. This is a dangerous product because there is not a kill step (pasteurization) before consumption. We have had clients who were permanently, severely harmed after drinking unpasteurized milk.
